Machine for cutting and pressing fruit and for mixing juices



Oct. 6, 1925- 1,555,929

J. E. ALLAN MACHINE FOR CUTTING AND PRESSING FRUIT AND FOR MIXING JUICESFiled Nov. 8, 1920 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 6-, 1925- 1,555,929

I .1. E. ALLAN MACHINE FOR CUTTING AND PRESSING FRUIT AND FOR MIXINGJUICES Filed Nov. 8, 1920 s Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 6, I J. E. ALLAN MACHINEFOR CUTTING AND PRESSING FRUIT AND FOR HIKING JUICES Filed Nov. 8 920 6Sheets-Sheet 3 6 J. E. ALLAN MACHINE FOR CUTTING AND PRESSING FRUIT ANDFOB IIXING JUICBS 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 gnvmflob hm w R n N ua w N m w\ 1 1 Fin? Oct- 6, 1925- 1,555,929

J. E. ALLAN MACHINE FOR CUTTING AND PRESSING FRUIT AND FOR MIXING JUICES6 Sheets-Sheet 5 J. E. ALLAN MACHINE FOR CUTTING AND PRESSING FRUIT ANDFOR MIXING JUICES Filed Nov. 8, 1920 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Y x 6 %w 11 dPatented Oct. 6, 1925.

UNITED STATES JAMES E. ALLAN, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

MACHINE FOR CUTTING AND DRESSING FRUIT AND FOR MIXING JUICE.

Application filed November 8, 1920. Serial 1T0. 422,424.

To all whom it may concema Be it known that I, JAMES E. ALLAN, a

citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in thecounty of Wayne attract the interest and attention of the passers-by. I

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown a machine particularlyadapted for use in removingthe juice from oranges, but it willbe-evident that the structure may be modified to suit other fruits.

The structure herein described and 'illustrated is therefore to beconsidered merely as one preferred embodiment of my invention, and I donot wish to be limited to the exact construction shown but believemyself entitled to such modifications and rearrangements as fall withinthe scope of the accompanying claims when broadly construed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a typicalembodimentof my invention' 1 Fig. 2 is a side elevation, parts beingshown in section andcparts being broken away- Fig 3 is an end elevation,the juice extractor and the funnel being shown in section;

Fig. 4 is an end elevation of the bearings for the gears and shafts foroperating the plungers of the juice extractors, the front half ofthebearing being removed;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the structure shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentaryplan view of the machine; Fig. 7 is a verticalsectional view through the juice extractors showin them in the positionthey occupy when t e swinging funnel has reached the point indicated bythe line VII-v11 in Fig. 2, looking in the di- 'in Fig. 10; and

Fi 12 is a developed view of the drum whic receptacle and the juiceexpressing devices.

In the operation of the device shown in the drawings, oranges are lacedin a hopper at the top of the mac inc and are allowed to enter a chuteone at a time. Each controls the movements of the juice orange rolls tothe" bottom of the chute,

where it is engaged by a pair of fingers attached to a funnel whichswings on an axis, carrying the fingers en ging the fruit in an arc of acircle lengthwise of a curved knife, the curvature of the blade beingsomewhat eccentric to that of the path of movement of the fruit sothatthe blade gradually cuts through the orange. Nearly at the top of theswing of the funnel, s readers enter the cleft in the orange made y theblade, and separate the lower ends of the two sections so that as thecut is completed, the severed halves slide down into cylindrical upperortions of juice extractors pivoted on the nnel. These juice extractormembers have previously been tilted sidewise into the proper position toreceive the fiat out surfaces upon perforated ribbed plates. At

the end of its swin 'ng movement, the funnel stands verticalf y beneaththe juice extractors. Plun rs descend and ress upon the orange sectionswith a twistmg downward movement, forcing the .cutsurfaces' against theperforated ribbed surfaces of the extractor plates. The expressed juiceand'particles of pulp pass through the per forations into the funnel,which has an outlet at one side of its lower end. The plungers of thejuice extractor are withdrawn; the funnel swings downward through almosthalf a circle to dro out the empty rind; another orange rolls own thechute, and the cycle is repeated.

The juice is poured into a mixing chamber surrounded by ice and stirredto cool it or to mix it with other ingredients of various drinks. Theentire operating mechanism being exposed to view, attracts the publicand forms an effective advertisement, it being immediately apparent thatthe juice is genuine and freshly pressed from select fruit.

Beneath the hopper 1 is mounted a rotary delivery means consisting of acyhndrical member 2, having an opening 3 in one side. The cylinder andthe opening are made of such size that only one orange, or other pieceof fruit, can enter at each revol'ution, and the fruit will be gradedbefore being placed in the hopper so that. only those specimens that liewithin proper limits of size will be used with each cylinder. The fruitwill be received from the hopper while the opening is turned upward andwill be allowed to roll down the chute Whenthe cylinder is rotatedthrough a quarter of a revolution or more in the direction indicated bythe arrows. This rotation of the cylinder on its pivots 4 is broughtabout by means of the train of gears 5, 6, 7, and 8 driven by thevertical shaft 9. The chute is shown as having a troughlike upper ortion10 leading to a tubular passage mate of curved metal rods 11 at thelower end of which are inwardly bent fiat fingers 12 to catch the fruitand hold it in position to be lifted by the'curved fingers 13 carried bythe swinging funnel 14.

As most clearly shown in Fig. 3, the funnel 14 has oppositely directedtubular extensions 15, 16, mounted for rotation in babbitted bearings17, 18, in the standards 19, 20, forming part of the main framework ofthe machine. A gear wheel 21 secured to the extension 15 is operated bya rack 22 to swing the funnel through an angle of almost one hundred andeighty degrees, from a vertical position downward. The fingers 13 aresecured to the outer end of the funnel 14 and are curved forward to engage the fruit held by the fingers 12 at the lower end of the chute.

Extending upward from the lower end of the chute, and secured at a pointbeyond the farthest position reached by the fingers 13, is a curvedblade 23 having a cutting edge curved on an are somewhat eccentric tothe arc traversed by the center of the fruit carried by the fingers 13.These fingers lie on opposite sides of the blade 23 and are curved farenough forward to hold the orange against the blade as it is forcedupward. The eccentricity of curvature of the cutting edge of the knifegives a slicing cut through the fruit for about three fourths of itstravel until it reaches an angularly directed cutting edge portion ofthe blade, shown at 24, which gives the final severing cut that dividesthe fr'uit into two pieces. I

Brackets 25, formed as extensions of the sides of the funnel 14, supporta pivot shaft lying in the plane of the knife blade 23.

Upon this shaft 26, are pivoted lugs 27 formed on the side of tubularmembers 28. These tubular members have a cylindrical upper portionconnected by a tapering section with a smaller tubular lower end, asmost clearly shown in Figs. 3, 6, and 7. Perforated plates 29 having arough or ribbed upper surface are secured in the tubular members at theseat formed at the junction of the tapering section with the uppercylindrical portion. These plates 29 are slightly conical.

On the sides of the tubular members 28 opposite the lugs 27 are studs 30having the rollers 31 mounted thereon to engage cam. guides 32, whichhave their lower portions curved on an are substantially concentric withthe path of movement of the outer end of the funnel 14. The cam guideshave a V-shaped, downwardly directed portion, indicated at 33, downwhich the rollers 31 travel just before the fruit is severed by theangularly arranged edge 24. As shown in Fig. 7, the rollers 31 havereached the bot tom of the depression in the cams 32 and the fruit isshown in dotted lines in various stages of its travel, from theuppermost. position. in which it has just been cut apart, to thelowermost position, in which the halves lie with their flat, cutsurfaces in contact with the upperfaces of the perforated plates 29. 7

At the sides of the blade 23 below the angularly set edge 24 twospreader members 34 are secured to enter the lower end of the cleft madein the fruit by the knife and to separate the lower edges so that thecenter of gravity of the cut halves will lie nearer to the blade 23 thando the points w th which the lower edges of the halves are in contact.The upper edges will slide down in contact. with the blade as the loweredges slide off the spreaders 34 and this will position the fiat side ofthe fruit on the perforated plates which have been tilted down totheproperangle to receive the flat surface. If the plates 29 werehorizontal, the lower edges of the cut halves might engage the roughsurfaces at an angle such that they would catch and cause the cut piecesto roll over, but this is prevented by tilting the tubular members 28.

After the fruit is cut in two and the parts slide down into the tubularmembers, the further upward movement of the funnel 14 carries therollers 31 up the inclined cams, and when the funnel has reached thevertical position and has come to rest, the rollers 31 rest on a fiatsurface 35, with the perforated plates 29 in a substantially horizon talposition.

Two plungers 36 having ribbed lower faces are secured to the lower endsof vertical shafts 37 having screw-threaded por tions 38 engaginginternally threadcd'elcments 39 projecting from a supporting member 40.The shafts are driven by gear wheels 41 which in turn are driven by agear wheel 42 mounted on the vertical shaft 43. At the lower end of theshaft 43 is secured a gear wheel 44 in mesh with a rack 45, having arearward extension 46. A roller 47 mounted on, the extension 46 engageswithin a cam groove 48 formed in a drum 49. The rack 22 which is in meshwith the gear wheel 21 has an extension 50 on which is mounted a roller51 engaging another cam groove 52 in the drum 49.

In Fig. 12, which is a developed view of the surface of the drum, themovement during rotation is indicated by the arrow. The roller 47 hasjust'come to the end of a dwell 48 during which the rack has been atrest and consequently has held the gear wheel 44 and shaft 43 fromrotation. The -roller 51 has just left the active part 52 of its camgroove and is about to enter a dwell 52 during which the rack 22 andgear wheel 21 will be held stationary. Movement of the rack 22 hascaused the gear 21 to rotate and the funnel 14 has been lifted to thevertical position shown in Fig. 2. The plungers are directly above thetubular members 28 and on each perforated plate 29 rests the cut surfaceof a half orange.

As the drum moves about its axis as shown by the arrow, the roller 47 isthrust to the left by the active part 48 of the cam groove 48, movingthe rack 45 (to the left in Fig. 6) and causing the rotation of gear 44,shaft 43, gears 42 and 41, and shafts 37. The screw threads of theportions 38 cause the shafts 37 to rotate, bringing the ribbed faces ofthe plungers 36 down into contact with the fruit and pressing them witha rotary movement against the ribbed surfaces of the perforated plates.The tubular members with their plates 29 form highly efficient juiceextractors, the juice pressed out running down into the funnel and out.at the end of the extension .16. The cup-shaped upper end of the plungershown in Fig. 9 receives any oil from the screws 38. When the plungershave reached their. lowermost position, the roller 47 enters a shortdwell 48 holding the plungers down while the juice runs through theplates 29, andthen the second active portion 48 of the'cam groove drivesthe roller to the right, reversing the movement of the plunger shaftsand the train of gears, and lifting the plungers to the top of theirstroke where they are held while the funnel swings down to drop theempty rinds, and back with another orange. The roller 51 engages theactive portion 52 ofthe cam groove 52 while the plungers are stillrising and acts to pull the rack 22 (to the right in Fig. 6) to rotatethe gear wheel 21, which causes the funnel to swing through an angle ofalmost one hundred and eighty degrees downward to a point where therinds are dropped into a receptacle 53. There is no need for a dwell atthe lower end of the swing, so the cam groove bends back at once,returning the funnel with a steady upward movement during which thefingers 13 lift the orange resting at the lower end of the chute andcarry it-up the blade 23 to the cutting edge 24 which determines thepoint at which the parts shall be severed to drop into the juiceextractors. J

The drum 49 is mounted on a shaft 54 which is driven by a motor 55through a train of gears 56 adapted to give a proper speed of rotation.On the end of the shaft 54 opposite the motor is a beveled gear wheel 57in mesh with a beveled gear wheel 58 secured on the lower end of theshaft9. Each cylinder 2 is arranged to deliver the orange to the chuteafter the fingers 13 have passed the lower end of the chute on theirdownward swing. The fruit rolls down into place while the funnel swingsfrom a horizontal position downward and returns to the chute on itsupward movement. There is no fruit at the end of the chute to obstructthe movement of the fingers 13 as they pass that point moving downward.

vOn the interior of the funnel, a series of annular ribs or shelvesv 59are formed, the upper surfaces of which slope smoothly inward anddownward so that the juice runs freely down the sides and drips off thesharp edges of the ribs. The lower side of these ribs is undercut toform a shelf or annular pocket when the funnel is inverted at the lowerportion of its swing, thus preventing juice from running out of thefunnel while the rind is being dropped.

The extension 16 of the funnel is made flaring so that the passage forthe juice shall slope downward at all times during the swingingmovement, and external ribs 60 are provided to prevent drops of juicewhich may cling to the outer lip of the extension 16 from running backon the outside.

The juice issuing from the extension16 of the funnel 14 is received inany suitable vessel 61, from which it may be poured into the innercompartment 62 of a mixing chamher having an outer compartment 63 toreceive ice or other cooling means. A shaft 64 carries at its upper endbracket arm 65 carrying stirring'paddles 66 which move the juice intocontact with the cold walls of the compartment to produce rapid coolingor which mix the juice with water, sugar, or

. other materials used in various drinks. The

cured a'bevel gear wheel 68 in mesh with a bevel gear 69 on the shaft54, this arrange ment producing a constant rotation of the paddles 66while the machine is in operation.

It will be obvious that various changes, may be found desirable to adaptvarious portions of the device for use with other fruits, and if thesame machine is to be used for-several different fruits or for widelyvarying sizes of the same fruit, the feeding mechanism would be madewith interchangeable cylinders and the juice extractors withinterchangeable members best adapted for use with each fruit.

All such necessary modifications and adjustments are comtemplated aswithin the spirit of my invention as defined by the accompanying claims.

\Vhat I claim is 1. A juice extracting machine comprising a blade havinga cutting edge, a carrier for fruit having a. path of movement whichbrings the fruitinto contact with the cutting edge and lengthwisethereof to sever the fruit into halves, means for positioning a out halfwith its cut face in contact with a surface adapted for juiceextraction, and means for forcing the fruit half section into contactwith the surface to extract the juice.

2. A juice extracting machine comprising a blade having a cutting edge,a carrier for fruit havin a path of movement which brings the fruit intocontact with the cutting edge and lengthwise thereof to sever the fruitinto halves, means for positioning the cut halves with their out facesin contact with surfaces adapted for juice extraction and means engagingthe opposite surface 0 the fruit and forcing it with a rotary movementagainst the juice extracting surface.

3. A juice extracting machine comprising a blade having a cutting edge,a carrier for fruit having a path of movement which brings the fruitinto contact with the cutting edge and carries the fruit lengthwise ofthe cutting edge and transversely of the blade, said blade having itscutting portion formed with a section extending abruptly transversely tothe path of movement of the fruit and at an angle to the main portion ofthe blade to determine the point at which the fruit shall be completelysevered.

4. A juice extracting machine comprising a blade lying in a verticalplane and having a cutting upper edge, a means for carrying a fruitlengthwise and transversely of the blade to a point at which the fruitis completely severed, a deflecting means having an inclined uppersurface engaging the lower end of a cut section to move it farther fromthe plane of the blade than the center of gravity of the severed part,so that the top will slide downward in contact with the blade and thelower edge will slide outward down the inclined surface, and a memberadapted for juice extraction positioned to receive the flat cut surfaceof the fruit as it slides ofi the deflecting means.

5. A juice extracting machine comprising an oscillating member, grippingfingers on the member having a path of movement in an arc of a circle,and a knife blade between the fingers havin a curved cutting edgeeccentric to the pat of movement of the gripping fingers, said edgehaving a portion extending abruptly transversely to the path of movementof the fingers to provide a definite limiting point for the cuttingaction of the knife blade.

6. A juice extractingmachine comprising a knife blade, a fruit carriermovable lengthwise of the blade, the configuration of the blade beingsuch that fruit delivered to the blade by th carrier is completelysevered at a definite point, deflecting means engaging the lower edge ofthe severed portion of the fruit, to deflect it outwardly from the bladewhen it has been severed and a juice extracting means having a pivotedmember arranged to swing on its pivot to assume a position in which areceiving surface lies at an angle permitting the lower edge of thesevered portion of fruit to slide downward to bring the cut surface intocontact with the receiving surface.

7 A structure as in claim 6, having a reciprocating plunger to engagethe fruit and iorce it into contact with the receiving surace.

8. A juice extracting machine comprising a cutting blade, a fruitcarrier having a portion movable lengthwise of the blade, a piv otedmember having one end supported by the fruit carrier and the other endengaging a cam having, opposite the point at which the fruit iscompletely severed, a portion permitting the pivoted member to swing onits pivot under the action of gravity to incline the upper surface ofthe pivoted member to receive the severed fruit.

9. A structure as in claim 8, having means to deliver the fruit with itscut surface incontact with the inclined surface of the pivoted member.

10. A juice extracting machine comprising a knife blade arranged in avertical plane, a swinging member mounted ona horizontal pivot andhaving gripping fingers for fruit arranged on opposite sides of theblade and moving in an arc of a circle, thecutting edge of the bladebeing curved eccentric to the pivot of the swinging member and having aportion extending transversely to the path of movement of the fingers todetermine the point at which the fruit will be completely severed,deflecting means arranged adjacent to that point to engage the lower endof a severed portion of fruit to force it outwardly from the blade, apivoted receiving member mounted on the swinging member adjacent to,the'gripping fingers and a cam means arranged to cause the. receivingsurface to lie at a downward angle at the point at which the fruitslides from the deflecting member when it has been severed and the cammeans having a portion causing the pivoted receiving means to assume asubstantially horizontal position at the end of the movement of theswinging member, and a reciprocating plunger positioned above thereceiving member at the end of its path of movement, adapted to engagethe fruit and force it into contact with the receiving member with arotary movement.

' 11. A machine for expressing fruit juices for drinks, comprisingmechanism for delivering fruit one by one from a receptacle to a holder,mechanism for removing the fruit from the holder and bringing it intocontact with severing means, mechanism for applying pressure to thefruit after it is severed, whereby to extract the juice, and

'means including cams for determining the periods when each mechanism isrendered active, and means for operating the machine. 12. A machine forexpressing fruit u1ces for drinks, comprising delivering mechanism,carrying means, severing means, and pressing means, means for operatingthe moving parts, and a controlling means for causing the operations toproceed in the following sequence: delivery of the fruit, movement ofthe carrying means to bring the fruit into contact with the severingmeans until the severing is completed, and application of pressure tothe severed portions of the fruit.

13. A machine for expressing fruit juices comprising, deliverymechanisms, carrying means, severing means, andpressing means means foroperating the moving parts an a controlling means for causing theoperation to proceed in the followingsequence: delivery of the fruit,movement of the carrying means to bring the fruit into contact with thesevering means until the severing is completed, application of pressureto the severed portions of the fruit to extract the juices, removal ofpressure and movement of the carrying means to discharge the refuse leftafter the juice is extracted.

In testimony whereof I affix my si ature.

' JAMES E. AL AN.

